After weeks of speculation around an Iron Maiden 2026 Australian stadium tour, it’s now official.
Iron Maiden will bring their 50th Anniversary ‘Run For Your Lives’ World Tour to Australia in November 2026, headlining stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time in their career, with Megadeth locked in as very special guests.
Blunt previously reported that Allianz Stadium was in play, now we know the full routing, and it’s bigger than expected.
Iron Maiden ‘Run For Your Lives’ Australia 2026 Dates featuring Megadeth
Iron Maiden & Megadeth 2026 Australian Tour Dates
Wednesday, November 11th – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Friday, November 13th – AAMI Park, Melbourne
Sunday, November 15th – Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Wednesday, November 18th – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Telstra Plus pre-sale: Wednesday, March 4th here.
General on sale: Friday, March 6th here.
This marks Maiden’s eighth tour of Australia, tracing back to their first local visit in November 1982 at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre during the ‘Beast On The Road’ run, four decades later they’re levelling up again, outdoor stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney, plus arena plays in Adelaide and Brisbane.
A 50 Year Victory Lap
The ‘Run For Your Lives’ tour has been built around Maiden’s first nine albums, and these Australian dates sit at the tail end of the global run.
Manager Rod Smallwood has made it clear this isn’t a nostalgia cash in, it’s a deliberate return to the band’s formative catalogue, and for some tracks, potentially the last time they’ll ever be played live.
“We are very excited to be bringing this RUN FOR YOUR LIVES TOUR to Australia later this year. And even more so as we are bringing MEGADETH with us. Dave and I have been friends for years and we are very proud to have them as our special guests on their last-ever world tour. I think our fans will really appreciate this and it will make it an even more memorable show for everyone. We very much look forward to getting down there to see you all at the end of 2026!” Steve Harris said (via press release).
Smallwood added:
“We are delighted to be returning to Australia just two years after our last visit to that part of the world. It’s always a great experience playing to our fans there, and we know they really appreciate seeing us whenever we can visit. And this time we are playing some new outdoor venues too, including the Allianz Stadium in Sydney and AAMI Park in Melbourne. I can promise our fans that they are in for a real treat with this setlist and show. The band have been loving revisiting this era and especially enjoy playing these songs with the state-of-the-art visuals we’ve created to accompany them. We’ve got all the big ones from the early days including Hallowed Be Thy Name, Run To The Hills, Phantom of the Opera, Trooper, Number Of The Beast, Killers, Powerslave, 2 Minutes To Midnight and more. Plus there’s some true epics including Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, which will be even more special because these shows will be at the very end of The Run For Your Lives Tour, and so the final time the band will ever be playing a number of these songs.
“One thing to add, it was really special on our European dates last year to see that the vast majority of our fans appreciated and respected our request to severely limit their use of phones at our concerts, ideally just keeping it in their pockets the whole time, especially in those standing areas in front of the stage. Our fans’ understanding and cooperation made a colossal difference to the atmosphere of every show and increased the enjoyment enormously for the band and fans alike. Therefore we ask all our fans in Australia to do the same and enjoy the show ‘in the moment’ rather than film on their phones. Please keep them in your pockets.
“As it was first ‘tested’ in Australia on The Future Past Tour we will be bringing the now hugely popular Eddie’s Pop-up Dive Bar experience back over with us. Our European fans loved these too and we’re convinced that the mix of Maiden fans, Trooper Beer & exclusive Tour merch makes for a winning combination. Likewise we will continue to offer the well-loved Trooper VIP Experience at all venues.”
Promoter Paul Dainty AO didn’t underplay it either:
“This will be Iron Maiden’s biggest tour of Australia ever. Headlining stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time in their 50-year history is a massive moment. And with Megadeth joining the tour, this is going to be an absolute powerhouse night of metal — two giants of the genre, one colossal production, and a show Australian fans won’t know what hit them.”
Megadeth’s November Clue Was Real
Earlier this week, Blunt covered Megadeth’s ‘November’ reply via the official Vic Rattlehead account, at the time, it looked like a heavy hint, now it reads like confirmation.
Megadeth are currently on their farewell world tour cycle, and their inclusion here gives the Australian leg added weight, two of thrash and heavy metal’s most enduring names on the same bill, at stadium scale, at the close of a global anniversary run.
No Phones, Big Production, Final Plays
Maiden’s request to limit phone usage isn’t new, but it’ll be interesting to see how Australian crowds respond in stadium environments, on European dates the band credited the reduced screen glow for improving atmosphere.
For a setlist that digs deep into early epics like ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’, that immersion matters, these aren’t three minute radio cuts. They’re long, theatrical pieces that need space to breathe.
Following this run, the band will take 2027 off touring, if you’ve been waiting to see this era of Maiden played at full scale, this is likely your last shot.
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